Military News

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Face of Defense: Army NCO Outlines Secrets to Success

FORT CARSON, Colo., January 21, 2016 — What does it take to
succeed in today’s Army? It’s a question that many soldiers ponder, and one
that has many different answers.

For Army Master Sgt. Amber Chavez, the logistics
noncommissioned officer in charge at the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
here, success has been earned through inspiration from others and her own
personal inner drive.

Chavez, an El Paso, Texas, native, was like many teenagers
across the country, a high school student trying to figure out what to do after
graduation, when she met a retired Army master sergeant while working a
part-time job. It was this chance encounter that set her on her path to be a
soldier.

“He was a former paratrooper and Golden Knight [U.S. Army
Parachute Team member],” Chavez said, “and he opened my eyes to the different
opportunities that the Army had in a way that the recruiters at the time just
couldn’t.”

Chavez, who was leaning toward a teaching career at the time
and wondering how she could pay for college, suddenly saw the Army as a way to
pave her own way toward her goal.

She enlisted in the Army Reserve in her junior year of high
school and attended basic training and Airborne School during the following
summer. She served in the reserve during her senior year, but was already
falling in love with the idea of serving full-time. She served active-duty for
two years in 1998 before moving back into the reserve component.

She remained in the Army Reserve until Sept. 9, 2001, when
she decided to transfer to active duty for good. Chavez said s divine
intervention that led her back to full-time service just two days before the
country was shaken to its core by the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.
It was then, she said, that she knew she had made the right choice.

A Knack for Leading Junior Soldiers

“I never considered myself a super soldier by any means,”
Chavez said, “but I have always had a knack for leading junior soldiers, and I
felt like this was where I was meant to be at this time in my life.”

Chavez, who has deployed six times in five different
countries, credits much of her success as a leader to her family. Her husband
is a soldier as well, and her mother-in-law is a veteran. Her husband and
mother-in-law, she said, have formed a foundation of support and mentorship for
Chavez for the last 18 years.

Chavez said her biggest family-oriented challenges are
determining the best career enhancement paths for herself and her husband.

“Sometimes,” Chavez explained, “it’s just as important to
take a step back from your career and focus on family, so that your spouse or
significant other can focus on their career.”

Chavez also credits her Army leaders for instilling a drive
for higher education in her early on. When she was a private first class, her
NCOIC pushed her into college and gave her the time she needed to complete her
studies, while also fulfilling her duties to the Army. It’s something Chavez
has continued with her own soldiers.

“Civilian education is paramount, whether you want to stay
in or get out after your first contract,” Chavez said.

Chavez encourages her soldiers to take a college-level
English class first to develop effective writing and communication skills.

“Lots of communication now is done through emails,” she
said. “You have to be able to communicate effectively, using proper grammar and
punctuation, if you want to be taken seriously in a professional environment.
It’s an often overlooked skill, and it can put you head and shoulders above
your peers if you can do it well.”

Chavez also has taken an interest in her military education,
dating back to the beginning of her career when she insisted that Airborne
School be a part of her initial enlistment contract. She had never seen herself
as a paratrooper growing up, she said, and it was just one of those things that
came up while talking with the retired master sergeant who inspired her to be a
paratrooper.

“I still have a great respect for gravity,” she said. “But
you just have to trust your equipment to get you through.”

In addition to Airborne School, Chavez has graduated from
Air Assault School, Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape School, Level C, as
well as several courses in the logistics field, along with her required
noncommissioned officer education system courses.

A Willingness to Teach

Chavez’s biggest asset, according to those who know her, is
her willingness to teach soldiers. Even as a senior NCO, they said, she has
never lost sight of what it was like to be a brand new sergeant, sometimes
overwhelmed and uncertain. It’s something she strongly recommends for leaders
at all levels.

“Don’t forget what it took to get where you are,” she said.
“If you forget how to function at the lower level, how can you expect to lead?”

Ultimately, Chavez credits her success to those she has
served with.

“I wouldn’t be successful if I didn’t have soldiers who went
above and beyond and leaders who went above and beyond,” she said. “The key to
being successful is realizing that it is always a team effort.”

Chavez also charges everyone to strive for excellence at all
times.

“No matter how small the mission or tasking is, you have to
put forth your best effort, all day, every day,” she said. “If you do that
every day, you’ll find that the overwhelming obstacles in your way aren’t
really obstacles at all.”

Chavez also encourages everyone to remember why they became
soldiers in the first place.

“If you have the right attitude, then success will come to
you,” she said. “If you have the wrong attitude, you probably won’t live up to
either your professional or personal goals. Remember that you came into the
Army to serve and not to be served.”